Sleeve joint



y 1959 E. w. AUSTIN SLEEVE JOINT Filed June 15. 1955' IN TOR ATTORNEY ,4

Enoch W. Au

United States Patent 2,893,521 SLEEVE JOINT Application June 13, 1955, Serial No. 515,198 1 Claim. (Cl.189--19) This invention relates to interlocking sleeve joints for structures having supports, such as columns, rods and struts. Examples of such structures are radio or like towers and oil well derricks.

important object of the invention is to provide quickly assembled or disassembled interlocking sleeve joints which are, at the same, sturdy and able to withstand heavy loads. 1

Another important object is, to. provide any interlocking sleeve joint which comprises but 'few partsand none of them complicated nor including parts which are ditficult to disconnect, such as screwthreaded sleeve parts, springs, dogs and levers.

:Still another important object is to provide an interlocking sleeve joint for upwardly-extending supports in which the downward pull upon the joint structure is from the upper end portion of thestructure which upper end portion is the Widest part of the whole structure, and this pull is transmitted to the portions of the structure beneath this upper end portion.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, forming a portion of this disclosure, and in which drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top plan of a first sleeve portion of the joint.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view, mostly in bottom plan of a second sleeve portion of the joint.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section of a coupling means for detachably securing ties to the portion of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the assembled portions of Figs. 1 to 4, associated with other portions of the joint.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of a plurality of the sleeve joints in use connecting a plurality of upright supports to form a structure such as a television or radio tower or oil well derrick. An example is the tower disclosed in US. Patent 1,542,861 to John W. Conrad et 211., issued June 23, 1925, for Tower.

In the drawing, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letters A and B designate two support sections; C, the new sleeve joint and D tie assemblies.

The supports A and B may be two rods of generally cylindrical transverse cross section with abutting end parts 10. and 11 having end faces 12 and 13 respectively.

Referring mainly to Fig. 5, the new joint C is provided by enlargements upon the abutting end part 11, formed by increasing the diameter of the support B at this end part, so that the end part 11 first increases gradually in diameter toward its end face 13 to a diameter greater than the diameter of the part and then this increased diameter gradually decreases to the end face 13 where the diameters of the end faces '12 and 13 are substantially the same. At the end parts 10 and 11, the material of the supports A and B is removed diagonally to the longitudinal axis of the supports A and B to provide bevelled faces 14 and 15 respectively and further removed to provide the recesses 16 and 17 in these end portions, extending to the faces 14 and 15 respectively, all to provide interlocking means carried by each support. Obviously the support A having an end part 10 may be provided at its other end with an end part 11' and the support B, having an end part 11 may have, at its other end, an end part 10.

Now, referring mainly to Figs. 1, 2 and 5, the first sleeve portion 20 is disclosed having an axial bore 21 gradually increasing in diameter from the larger-diamered end face 22 to the opposed end face 23. This sleeve portion 20 is adapted to accommodate the bevelled end portion 10 so that the latter may be inserted into the bore 21 at its smaller diametered end and the sleeve portion then slipped along the bevelled face 14 until the sleeve portion 20 may be slid along the periphery of the section A to a position clearing the bevelled face 15, whereupon the two sections A and B may be coupled together and the sleeve portion 20 then slid into position as shown in Fig. 5. This may be effected by providing the diameter of the bore 21 at the end face 22 only greater in diameter sufficiently so that the end part 10 will enter the vbore 21 and the sleeve portion 20 may be slid over the periphery of this end part with substantially no side play when the parts are in position as in Fig. 5.

The sleeve portion 20 may be somewhat cup-shaped, as shown in Fig. 2, widest at its end part 24 nearest the face 22 and is preferably provided with a plurality of spaced-apart openings 25, which are shown as radially disposed recesses opening to the face 22 and to the outer periphery 26 of the end part 24. Each of these openings 25 is adapted to accommodate a projection 36 of the sleeve portion 30 next to be described.

The second sleeve portion 34 may be a disc with opposite flat faces 31 and 32 and outer peripheral face 33. Extending from the face 31 to the face 32 is an axial bore 34, with its diameter adjacent the face 31 very slightly greater than the diameter of the end portion 10. The bore 34 is enlarged in diameter adjacent its end face 32 so that a shoulder 35 is provided and preferably extending into this enlarged bore are a plurality of projections which may be radially disposed, spaced-apart lugs 36 adapted to extend snugly into the openings 25. The sleeve portion 30 is adapted to be seated upon the sleeve portion 20 with the upper part of the latter accommodated within the enlarged portion of the bore 34 and the face 22 abutting the shoulder 35 and the projections 36 within the openings 25.

Means to detachably secure ties to the second sleeve portion 30 may be provided by forming suitable recesses 37 extending inwardly from the peripheral face 33 and shown, by way of example, in Fig. 4, to accommodate a bayonet shaped end of a tie rod. There are preferably two such recesses spaced substantially apart and each has the shoulder 38 and abutment 39 disposed to form substantially a right angle with this shoulder.

The tie assemblies D each preferably include structure shown in Figs. 4 and 6 comprising a suitable attaching member 40 which may be a hook preferably, rigidly carried by each support B below the associated sleeve joint C and adapted to hook into an eye 41 at one end of a tie rod section 42 which may be connected at its other end to one end of a conventional turnbuckle 43 with one end of a. second tie rod section 44 connected at its other end. The opposite end of the section 44 is provided with a bayonet-shaped end portion 45 which is adapted to fit into a recess 37. The turnbuckle is used conventionally for tightening the assembly D so that the sleeve portion Patented July 7, 1 959 3 30. will be forced. against the sleeve portion 20 to force the latter in tight contact with the adjacent portions of the supports A and B.

' -A plurality of assembled supports- A and B withijoints C maybeassembled to form a=leg or the-likeof' a tower on derrick-and-when a suificient'number of legs are pro vided,.they may be interconnected'by the tie assemblies D;

Various changes may be made to the form of inven tio'n' herein'shown and described without departing from' the spirit of the invention or scope of the'claimi I claim:

In: combination with at least two upwardly=extending: adjacent supports, each including a plurality ofupwardly extending support sections with each two adjoiningsec tionsin end-to-end faceabutment at'an end part of" each of said-two sections and'eachprovided' with an'eye intermediate its ends, an-int'erlocking sleeve joint'for each t'wn: adjoining sections, each joint including a peripheral en= largementmpon one of saidend parts, gradually increasing'in diameter from the abnttingvface ther'eof a first re 20 movable sleeve portion surroundingsaid end parts and in frictional contact with the peripheries thereof. and hav-' ingopposite upper and lower endfaces and an axialbore gradually increasing in diameter from one ofisaid end' faces of said sleeve portion torthe other of said end faces 25 thereof; the smallest diameter of said bore being very slightly greater than the diameter of the other of said end parts and the greatest diameter of said' b'orebeing less than the greatest diameter of said enlargemenLtsaid first-removable sleeve portion being provided with aplu- 30 rality of spaced-apart radially-extending opnings, ex

outer peripheral portiombeing provided with a plurality of spaced-apart recesses each provided with an upwardly and: outwardly extendingshoulder and an= abutment at the inner" end of 3 said shoulder andextending upwardly and inwardly thereirorn xand elongated tensioned tie means extending into saidl'recesses forurging said second removable sleeve/portion toward' 'said first removable sleeve portion and toward said enlargement including a downwardly and outwardly extending tie rod assembly with a rigid bayonet-shaped end portion, with one part of ,v said end poi-'tio'ri' engaging said shoulder and a" second tending inwardly from the-outer periphery of said first removable-sleeve portion toward said axial bore and also extending to theupper end face of said first removable armnereor inab'utment with saidabutment and saidtie means inclnding a secondend portionsecure'd to' the eye of a support section carried by 'anadjacent-suppdrt and" disposed below thehorizontal lanar-are disc carrying the first-named end -'por'tion'df said tiemeans.

References Cited in the file of this pa ten't UNITED srATEs PATENT-s 

